Sandy stories focus of Middletown, Toms River forums

Sharing stories in Middletown, Toms River

Oct. 27, 2013

A crowd gathered Sunday at Westminster Presbyterian Church to share their stories about how they have coped since superstorm Sandy struck nearly one year ago. / STAFF PHOTO/ANTHONY PANISSIDI

MIDDLETOWN REMEMBERS

Scan the QR code or visit APP.com to see more from Middletown’s “Sandy: 1 year later” event.

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After superstorm Sandy, a Middletown church congregation took the township’s recovery into their own hands.

Members of the Westminster Presbyterian Church stationed themselves in different parts of the township for one week at a time for six weeks after the storm, distributing blankets, shovels, buckets and disinfectants, among other items, to neighbors in need, the Rev. Joseph Hein said.

On Sunday, just two days shy of the day last year when Sandy barreled through the Jersey Shore, the church once again turned its attention toward the community. It hosted “SANDY: 1 Year Later” outside on its lawn. During the cookout, complete with barbecued food and a DJ, the local public shared survival stories and spoke with assessors about their updated needs.

“Each person has had a unique story,” Hein said. “The chance to be together and talk about the common problems is a wonderful thing.”

The event was one of a pair held in Monmouth and Ocean counties Sunday to mark the approaching anniversary of the superstorm and to give survivors a space to share experiences and get help for their ongoing needs.

In Toms River, the Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group hosted “One Year Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy” at Ocean County College. There, storm victims met with county relief and mental-health groups, and children attended workshops to help them cope with the storm’s effects.

Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders spoke and prayed during an interfaith service at the Toms River event.

“We are a people who survived a great tragedy,” said the Rev. Michael M. Mazer of East Dover Baptist Church in Toms River. “Teach us to be a people of hope in a world of despair.”

Rabbi Ellen Wolintz-Fields of Congregation B’nai Israel in the township said the commemorative ceremony served as one more way the community has helped each other since the storm.

“We are here for each other through the good and the bad,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot more than a year to heal. This is just the first stage in the process of healing.”

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Besides The Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group — which formed shortly after the storm as a long-term needs group — represenatives of Habitat for Humanity, United Way of Ocean County, Deborah Heart and Lung Center, Ocean Mental Health Services, New Jersey Hope and Healing and others attended the ceremony.

“One year ago, we didn’t know we’d still be collaborating,” said Maria LaFace, chairwoman of the group. “We’re only going to be able to rebuild a strong community through strong partnerships.”

Steve Scillieri hoped to learn more about the qualifications for financial aid to help pay for raising his township house, which sustained more than $150,000 in damages from flooding, he said.

The damage forced Scillieri out of his home for seven months. Now, even though updated regulations only require him to raise his home by one foot, he plans to do so by two to three feet, he said.

“I’m not going to let it happen again,” Scillieri said.

'We lost everything'

In Middletown, a crowd of roughly 100 people attended the afternoon’s commemorative ceremony, which included Dawn Ziffer, 45, of Illinois Avenue in the Port Monmouth section, the so-called “dry side” of Route 36.

Given her two-story, single-family home’s location, Ziffer never thought Sandy’s floodwaters would reach her home, but they did through an overwhelmed sewer system. Despite the damages in her basement and first floor, Ziffer continued to live in the home with her fiancé, son and daughter.

“It’s hard to talk about,” she said. “We lost everything that I had owned.”

One year later, Ziffer said she owes an estimated $70,000 for her home’s ongoing repairs, but has little idea as to how she will repay the debt. Unlike others, she said she received little help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or her insurance company.

“The church rebuilt my whole entire first floor of my house,” she said. “Still to this day, a year later, nobody has come up to us from the town asking if we needed anything.”

A changing mindset

Assessor Violet Schafer, 79, of Red Bank, said she noticed a stark contrast in the attitudes of those who approached her for help this year compared with last year.

“Last year, it was very emotional,” she said. They “were just in shock and pain, and you could just tell by looking at them. They just didn’t know what to even ask for.”